In the textile field, most sewing operations traditionally have been extremely labor intensive, manual operations that generally have required skilled workers for cutting, sewing, and finishing textile articles. The more labor intensive the sewing operation and the greater the skill required of the operator to form the article, the greater the cost and the slower the production of such articles. For example, in the manufacture of mattresses, and especially when forming a pillowtop mattress, a top panel that includes a foam or cushion material is sewn to a flanging material, after which it is applied over a spring set for the mattress, with the flanging material being pulled down over the side edge of the spring set and hog ringed or stapled to a spring to secure the top panel of the mattress thereto. A border then typically is attached about the sides of the mattress, covering the flanging material and springs. Further, the upper panels and pillowtops of mattresses generally must be sewn or attached to the mattress border, pillowtop attachment gusset, and possibly a flanging material, by a tape edge, which is applied along the mating edges or seams therebetween by a tape edge applicator.
Currently, there exist automated systems that enable workers to measure, cut, and sew borders, attachment gussets, flanging materials and other parts of a mattress or foundation. A drawback of such automated equipment is that it typically has been limited in the type and number of sewing operations that can be performed, while other operations, such as applying tape edges about the borders and pillowtops of mattresses, still tend to require significant skill and manual control by an operator to be performed. As a consequence, while various components of a mattress or foundation set can be formed at increased rates, the final assembly of the mattress or foundation set generally is still limited to more labor intensive, manual operations.